Queen 1982 Japan Tour Diary
Tuesday, October 19th, & Wednesday, October 20th, at Kyushu Electric Power Gymnasium
Brian was the only one who brought his family along on this tour. He went shopping with his 4 year-old son Jimmy and 6 month-old daughter Louisa. Freddie bought a painting at a department store in Fukuoka. Roger also ventured out into the city but was spotted by fans and had to return to the hotel.All four members gave an interview with Music Life magazine together at a hotel in the area, which was unusual for them at the time.
Friday, October 22nd
John and Roger made a surprise live appearance on Mainichi Broadcasting's live program FRIDAY'S. The MC, Yasuha, mistakenly introduced them as "Roger Deacon" and went on to ask some blunt questions typical of a local program, such as "Is there any truth to the rumors of a breakup?", which make the members smirk. But ultimately they did a good job of promoting their Osaka (Hyogo) concert.Saturday, October 23rd
The first press conference of this tour was held at the Rihga Royal Hotel, where the group was staying in Osaka.Sunday, October 24th, at Hankyuu Nishinomiya Stadium
This was Queen's first-ever outdoor stadium concert in Japan. Thanks to the band members' own promotional efforts, the stadium was almost completely full, even up in the stands. However, it was extremely cold that day and the audience shivered in the open air with no shelter. On top of that, the huge lighting set swayed violently in the strong winds, and at one point an announcement was made that they were discussing whether or not to proceed with the show. Just as there were fears that the concert might be canceled, it went on a little after 6:30 PM, about an hour late. Once it began, the band's passionate performance heated up the entire venue. The audience was captivated by the dazzling lighting that moved freely thanks to the computer control, which was only possible in such a large stadium. In particular, the moment Freddie appeared in the powerful white backlight during the chorus of Under Pressure was breathtakingly cool.On the other hand, while many fans in the Kansai region happily responded to Freddie's repeated "Hello, Osaka! How are you?!", certainly many were thinking to themselves, This isn't Osaka...
At this live performance at Nishinomiya Stadium, the adverse conditions of cold temperatures and strong winds actually worked in the band's favor, resulting in an incredible level of excitement from the audience, and Brian later said that this was their best show on this tour. Incidentally, this show was also filmed and later screened at a film concert organized by the fan club. Also, the 1989 video compliation RARE LIVE: A Concert Through Time and Space contains footage from Crazy Little Thing that was shot on this day, giving fans a glimpse of this incredible performance.
Monday, October 25th
Queen traveled from Osaka to Nagoya on the Hikari shinkansen. John and Roger appeared in a prerecorded segment on Fuji TV's Night Hit Studio DX to promote their concert at Seibu Lions Stadium (as well as the rest of the Japan tour).Tuesday, October 26th, at Nagoya International Exhibition Hall
A major surprise at the concert that day was Freddie's acapella rendition of Te wo Toriatte towards the end of the main set, right before Crazy Little Thing. The audience, thrilled by this unexpected and special turn of events, responded with a massive singalong, and the entire venue was moved.Friday, October 29th, at Hokkaido Prefectural Industrial Exhibition Hall
As soon as noted car enthusiast Roger arrived in Sapporo, he went to an amusement park and rode go-karts.After the evening's performance, a large wrap party was held at a beer garden in Sapporo, with the band members and both Japanese & British staff in attendance. A drinking contest was held&mdsah;John vs. Brian and Freddie vs. Roger.
Sunday, October 31st
Freddie shopped at Seibu Departement Store from 10 AM to 6 PM. Roger and John attended a Halloween party that was held at a Tokyo hotel. Tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis, who happened to be visiting Japan as well, also attended and hit it off immediately with Roger.Monday, November 1st
Just like the previous year, a welcome party held by Watanabe Productions was held at Club 33 in Roppongi. The attendees were delighted. It was star-studded with over 300 guests, including prominient figures from the political and business worlds, such as Sony founder & chairman Akito Morita and his wife, sports announcer Takamitsu, and senator Akiko Santo, as well as prominent music industry figures such as Mie Nakao, Ryuuichi Sakamoto, and Yukihiro Takahashi. The party began with a toast by chairwoman Misa Watanabe, and in the middle of the event, a band composed of young talents from Watanabe Productions performed a cover of Tie Your Mother Down. Queen themselves were so impressed by the performance that they couldn't help but cheer. After the party, which lasted for over two hours, the members returned to the hotel early to prepare for their performance at Seibu Lions Stadium.Wednesday, November 3rd, at Seibu Lions Stadium
The final day of the 1982 Japan tour is known for the photo of Freddie Mercury wearing a Seibu Lions baseball cap. The concert that night was video-shot and rereleased under the title Queen Live in Japan by Apollon Music Industries, a software company affiliated with Watanabe Productions, and later by Toshiba EMI (this is now out of print). Additionally, some footage from this concert is included on the bonus disc of the DVD Queen on Fire—Live at the Bowl, released in 2004.After this show, Queen announced a one-year hiatus, surprising many and causing speculation of an impending breakup. Ultimately, it took them over a year to resume activities with the release of the single Radio Ga Ga in January of 1984.
Anecdotes:
Freddie always looked forward to shopping in Japan, and this time he was on the hunt for ceramics. In Kyoto, he spent over 2 million yen on two Kiyomizu-ware incense burners. His was also fond of tachikichi, which isn't antique, and he always scoped out department stores wherever he went for the latest tachikichi ceramics. When it was time to return home, his hotel room was overflowing with several 1.5m² wooden boxes full of ceramics. One might believe he's a spendthrift when they hear about all of this shopping, but he also surprised the staff at an antique shop in Osaka by starting to negotiate a discount on a cat figurine priced at 50,000 yen.At that time, Freddie had an unapproachable and intimidating image, but when he was in a good mood, he would readily sign autographs for fans, even while out shopping. In the udnerground shopping area of Umeda, Osaka, he even posed for commemorative photos with two high school boys who came up to him, using his own Polaroid camera.
Roger was apparently intrigued by the wax food samples in restaurant windows, so he went to Kappabashi in Asakusa and bought a large quantity of them. He was particularly impressed by the quality of a Neapolitan spaghetti figure, in which a fork was suspended in mid-air by the coiled spaghetti. He even bought a sushi board and a tiered box for tempura, presumably to use as a display for the food samples he had purchased, much to the astonishment of those around him.
By now, John's Japanese had improved to the point where he could read katakana. When he went to bookstores for walks, he would read the katakana characters aloud.
During their stay, John and a sound engineer attended an electronics exhibition in Harumi, Tokyo. His eyes were shining with excitement as he looked around. He was particularly fascinated by the latest high-definition televisions. A high school girl was watching a Queen concert playing at the Pioneer laserdisc booth when she turned around to see the real John Deacon. She was so surprised she almost passed out!
Brian, who brought his family to Japan, spent his holidays mostly visiting toy stores with his beloved son Jimmy. Brian was seen happily buying masks of Mobile Suit Gundam and Dai Sentai Goggle V characters.
